


The Dictionary of Parenthood

by RedEyedQueen21



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Estrangement, F/F, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Gen, M/M, Step-parents
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-23
Updated: 2015-12-23
Packaged: 2018-03-08 18:46:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3219494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedEyedQueen21/pseuds/RedEyedQueen21
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Detective Morgan should have known who she was once he saw her at that coffee shop, he knew he should kept in touch after he left. But now five years later, his anger and lack of bravery have come back to haunt him as the BAU is called to a case affecting the DMV area. He knew his daughter was not going to get along with him during the case. Why would she?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A-Acceptance

The Dictionary of Parenthood  
A-Acceptance  
May-2010  
Derek Morgan looked around the small Brooklyn café. The cool blue painted brick walls where jarring against the dark furniture and Parisian-esque coffee machines. But the place wasn’t his pick, not at all.  
“Agent Morgan?”  
It was her pick.  
Derek smiled at a girl he assumed was in her late teens. She was pretty tall and athletic looking, Derek looked her up and down-she didn’t fit with the hipsters or the locals of Brooklyn, she looked more of a Cali girl with her baggy ripped jeans, a faded UCLA sweatshirt, and flip flops. Her skin was tanner compared to the others in the city. Derek thought she looked familiar, some bits of her made her think of his mama and him- the shape of her eyes and nervous smile. But her cheek bones where high and her ears big, her hair he assumed would be black and curly if it weren’t straighten and dyed red.  
“Franklin?” Derek gave out his hand for her to shake. She had a strong grip.  
“Frankie, you can call me Frankie if you want.”  
Derek gave her a lady killer smile, his hands laid flat against the table as he smiled, “Okay Frankie,” he couldn’t help but take in the state of her- she looked nervous and scared. Derek could see her fingers quiver against the handles of the chair. Her vision shifted, never focusing on him, as if his glance could burn her. He decided to take it easy on for now, considering the email he had received from her, she knew he was a behavior analyst for the FBI. She was writing a report for her senior thesis about the rise of criminalizing men of color who are youths. “I was surprised to get your email, it’s an impressive topic some students in college are sort of cautious to pick considering in the field you have some people who are a bit finicky about it.” A waitress appeared by his side, asking if Derek wanted a drink and Frankie if she wanted a refill. Derek peered over her cup of what he assumed was a latte, it was still full but looked to be no longer hot. ‘How nervous is she about talking to me?’  
Derek didn’t think to run a background check on Frankie before he had arrived or agreed to meet her four weeks back when he received the e-mail. He thought for a second that maybe she wasn’t a student, but a victim who needed help or was a link to a victim/victims that needed help but couldn’t reach out. “What made you want to pick this topic?” he asked cautiously, nodding his head to the waitress as she set his cup of coffee down by him.  
Frankie closed her eyes for a second, Derek took in her breaths becoming longer, as if she was counting the beats of her heart rate to control her emotions. ‘Here we go.’ Derek thought as Franklin rested her hands on the table.  
“Actually the paper isn’t important.” Frankie admitted softly.  
Derek took a sip of his coffee, “I figured as much, usually when college kids are wanting to meet with me they’re more excited or trying to suck up thinking I’m their ticket to the FBI or CSI.” He leaned back in the chair a bit, “So what’s your game?”  
Frankie’s posture changed at his tone, insulted a bit that she was trying to manipulate him for gain. The familiarity came back to Derek, but he couldn’t place it.  
“Do you know a Camilla Rustin?”  
Derek’s eyes widened, he hadn’t heard that name in years. She was a student at the University of Chicago while he was a student at Northwestern. They were a couple for a few months during their sophomore year, but it ended as soon as Camilla transferred to UCLA in the middle of their second year.  
“Yeah, why?”  
“She passed away two years ago, from cervical cancer.”  
Derek sighed into his hands, he remembered Camilla for her laughter and her ability to start an argument at the drop of a hat. The idea that she was no longer on earth starting hell for someone else broke him a bit. “I-was it-?”  
“She died peacefully.” Frankie gulped, her smile wavered a bit. “She became a lawyer.” That made Derek smile, he knew how badly Camilla wanted to be a lawyer.  
“Criminal justice?”  
“Yep, one of the top ranking women in law in SoCal, one of the few black women in California.” Frankie stated proudly.  
Derek let out halfhearted laugh, “I’m sorry, was she a friend of your? Professor?”  
“My mother, actually.”  
Derek would deny what happened next for years to come. He spat out his coffee, wincing as the coffee burned his tongue and lips. Frankie looked at bit somber as she and Derek gave out their apologies to the staff who rushed over wanting to clean up the mess while cleaning the table. “You’re Camilla’s daughter?” Derek sputtered, sounding so dazed and out of place. “You’re like what seventeen or eighteen?”  
“Twenty actually, turning twenty-one in December.”  
Derek did the math in his head, Camilla had to be pregnant during her second year of college. He knew what was coming next. Part of him knew it was coming, he should have seen it as soon as he saw her eyes. “Who’s your father?”  
Frankie pursed her lips at his icy tone, Derek could see her eyes fighting back tears. She slid a worn letter towards him, it was written by Camilla two years ago.  
“She just told you about me?” Derek asked incensed, he could feel the anger and hate surge through him. He had a daughter that he never knew about, it wasn’t as if she where a young child that he still had a chance of raising and guiding. He had a grown daughter who he had never seen before or had a chance to raise.  
“She gave me that letter before she passed away.” Frankie answered him softly, “She never told me about you before or gave an inkling about who you are.”  
“You never asked?” Derek asked as this where all her fault.  
“No.” Frankie answered simply. “I had an amazing mom who was always there for me while taking care of her own career and image, not to mention a grandmother who loved me and an uncle who was basically like a dad. I never really thought about it too much.” Derek noticed she hadn’t looked at him since coming clean. She kept her fingers around or fluttering around the cup of whatever without ever picking it up to drink. “I promised her before she died though that I would find you and get to know you, I guess give you a chance to became part of my life or something?” Frankie finished off unsure as she finally had the guts to look at him. “But I also understand that this is shock Agent Morgan.”

Derek tensed at the fact that his biological daughter was calling him Agent Morgan. He knew she did it on purpose, to make the separation feel more real.  
“I don’t expect anything from you, to be honest I don’t want anything from you.” Frankie explained, “I promised my mom that I would find you and come clean, I guess for her sake, but just to let her know that I have another parent in my life. But I don’t plan to be an inconvenience to you. I know who you are and what you do.”  
“Is that why she never told me I had a daughter?” Derek growled out in anger.  
Frankie extended her arms out in a way that made Derek think of the way he would stretch out in the office. “Sort of. She knew what you wanted to do once you graduated, she thought having a kid-it would destroy your chances of becoming a detective. She told me you’re really stubborn about family and that you’re honorable. You would have given up everything that made you happy to help and support her, she didn't want you to give up on yourself.”  
Derek slammed his hands down on the table, “That should have been my choice! Not hers’!” He had to give Frankie credit for not flinching-most likely she was expecting this type of reaction from him.  
“I-I know that you’re mad, and you have all the right in the world to be.” Frankie looked calm compared to Derek, again he couldn't help but feel like that bit of her was all him. “Like I said I don’t want anything from you, nor do I expect anything from you. Just for you to know that I exist, if you want to have a relationship with me.” Derek couldn't help but notice her smile- it was his smile. “Then that’s great, if not, then okay.” She breathed out, her voice even and cool. Derek couldn't see a tell on her, she looked confident in her words, as if she rehearsed the so many ways that this conversation could have taken by heart.  
Derek rubbed his face wearily, “To be honest I don’t know how to feel about this.” He glanced down at the letter again, “Why did it take you two years to find me? Didn't Camilla give you my name or anything?”  
Frankie nodded, “She did, I- it didn't take too long to find you. Maybe two weeks, just to make sure I found the correct Derek Morgan.” She crossed her arms, looking unsure of herself, “Just not an easy confession to make, you know?”  
Derek could feel his face darken at that, “No, actually I don’t.”  
Frankie nodded, he had to give her credit for not lashing back at him.  
“Sure.”  
Derek thanked all the Gods he could name when his phone went off. “Morgan.” It was Hotch, warning him that they had just been given a case from Albuquerque and the group was on the way already. Morgan had a plan waiting for him at the nearest airport. “Yeah,” he tried his best to sound casual. “I’m on my way.” He disconnected the call and turned back to look at Frankie.  
“Duty calls?”  
“Yeah.” Derek answered stiffly, he made a show of taking Camilla’s letter to him and stuffing it in his pocket. “It was nice meeting you.”  
Frankie didn't look surprised at all at his tone. “Yeah.” She answered simply, she glanced outside, “Good luck out there.”  
“Thanks.”  
He was only three steps off when he Frankie called him out again.  
“Agent Morgan? I just wanted to let you know, again, that I don’t want anything from you. The ball’s in your court. I’m fine with whatever you decide.” She stated finally before Derek left.  
February 2015  
“Yes, okay. I just got the notice now. We’ll be there in a couple of hours. Bye.” Hotch set the phone down and leafed through the case he had just been given. He had heard about the investigation for a while now, considering the mass of people killed he wasn't surprised that his team was contacted. He stuck out his head to find his team “Everyone conference room, five minutes.” He addressed before leading the way into the room.  
Once everybody was settled in, Hotch started to explain the case. “By now, I’m sure all of us have heard about the DMV sniper.” He pressed the clicker to show a montage of pictures of the 7 victims of the sniper that had been haunting the DMV region for three weeks now. “Seven victims, all white, age ranging from seventy-two” he clicked to a slide of a side by side pictures of the two oldest victims, “to nine years old.” The next picture was of a little boy. “Unlike the DC sniper case 2003, there seemed to be a clear pattern, but now.” He clicked over to the next slide.  
It was a picture of a young black male who looked to be in his twenties.  
Spencer frowned in confusion, “The unsub broke his pattern.” He stated surprised.  
“So we have come back to the random shootings?” Rossi asked, “What was there assumption before about the sniper?”  
“At first they thought this might have been a motive pushed by racism, but this was before nine year old Mikey Conner and seventeen year old Jillian Forsee where shot.” He laid down some of the notes the lead detectives had come up with. “Frankly now, with Ernest Kemps murder, they are stumped. They want us to figure out what the unsub behavior is and if it could lead us to finding out who his next victim is.”  
Derek leafed through the notes, he knew the case spanned from Virginia, DC and Maryland. “Hotch, we have to work with 3 police departments? How do you think that’s gonna go?”  
Hotch nodded his head, understanding the confusion and the hesitation that the others were no doubt facing. Working with three different police department, much less 5 different county cops would be a hassle. “Actually we don’t have to work with the five counties affected, just one. DC, Maryland, and Virginia all agreed that too many detectives and cops on the case would cause confusion, so there’s been a special unit put in place to solve the case. We only have to deal with them. We are due to meet with the unit in P.G county in two hours, there will be detectives from Virginia and DC to meet us, Chief Rice will meet with us before introducing us to the lead detective in charge.” Hotch explained as he gathered the notes scattered along the table, “Everybody, let’s go.”  
“At least no planes.” Kate mumbled to Reid who looked slightly relieved for the short journey.  
Two hours later the group was met by Chief RIce, who had by her side a man that Derek recognized as the police chief of P.G County. The man looked stressed and tired, as did Rainer.  
“Police Chief Rice.” Hotch called out.  
Rice looked only slightly relieved to see the team, as did the other chief. “Thank you all for coming so quickly. I had put a request in early when the body county was four but the FBI still wanted a stronger connection.”  
Rossi looked forlorn, “Formalities, some of the higher ups are still upset about the botch description and handling of the DC sniper case in 2003.” He looked around two see a medium sized brick home surrounded by police tape. “Have Kemp’s family or neighbors said anything about seeing or hearing anything off?”  
Rice shook her head, “No, this happened five hours ago. Everyone was either at work or getting ready to leave. Whoever this shooter is they are learning quick. They used a silencer on the last two shootings, with Kemp- it’s three.”  
Derek looked around the neighborhood, the all the houses looked the same, green yards and a few high end cars. So far all the victims came from middle to upper middle classes. Kemp was the only person of color so far. “Where was Kemp headed?”  
The P.G chief answered, “To class, Kemp was a student at the University of Maryland. He was a commuter. Worked at the campus library.” From behind the chief, Derek could see a woman wearing scrubs and a man wearing a suit crying and talking to two women who Derek couldn't see due to their backs turned to him. The crying couple was clearly Kemp’s parents. He could feel his stomach drop as Kemp’s mother bury her face into her husband’s chest.  
Both chiefs turned to see what Derek and the others were looking at. “I know this goes without saying, considering all the things you must have witnessed, but this case brings up the rawest memories for all of us. It’s going to bring us together but make us weaker at the same time. No one wants to go through this again, we need to get whomever is responsible for this.” Rice gritted out, the anger clearly showing as her face turned red and her hands fisted tightly. “We want to catch this person Hotch, we cannot live through this again.”  
Hotch nodded in agreement, as Prentiss finally broke her sight of the grieving parents. “We’ll do everything we can, we promise.”  
The chiefs nodded in a wordless ‘thank you’, “Let’s get you guys started, we have four detective on the case.” She wavered a group of two men and two women over.  
The oldest looked to be the men, who introduced themselves as Detective Moore and Detective Habib. Both men looked to be in their forties or fifties, Moore a little more out of shape than Habib, who looked who had a dark complexion and was slightly taller than his partner. Next was Detective Maggie Park, she looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties, her hair cut in a pixie cut and wearing a brown leather bomber jacket. She gave the group a closed mouth smile as the chiefs introduced her. “Nice to meet you all.” Park’s voice was polite and even, she gave a soft shove to the other detective who was a couple feet away from the group, talking on the phone. “Hey chica, intros are taking place.’ Park laughed at the other woman.  
Chief Rice looked pleased to introduce the final member of the group, “This is detective Frankie Rustin.” Derek’s head snapped up as his brain tried to catch up with Rice’s voice. He let out a soundless “what?” to see it was actually Frankie Rustin standing just a mere five feet away from him. Derek blinked as he noticed Frankie tense once she was introduced to the team. He could feel himself tense as their eyes met for a mere second. Her dark brown eyes were cold, it sent a slight chill up his spin as he was reminded about how his mama and sisters looked when they were upset with him.  
“You okay?” Reid asked when he felt the older man tense up next to him.  
“Yeah,” Derek answered half lying to himself, “I’m fine.”  
Reid, of course, didn’t look like he believed him. “You don’t look it.”  
“I’m fine Reid, thanks though.”  
“She doesn’t.” J.J whispered, nodding over at Frankie who had her arms crossed. “Case must be getting to her.”  
Derek could only nod in agreement, knowing the actual answer had everything to do with him.  
“From here on out Detective Habib will lead the detective group.” Rice explained, “You all have complete access to any files that you need.” She nodded over to the four detectives, “Thanks guys.”  
Habib and Hotch shook hands before discussing tactics. Each had plans about what to do and where to go from here. While the two were discussing the merging of their plans, the BAU team decided to address the three other detectives, with Derek hanging back and far away from Frankie.  
As he and Rossi discussed the ongoing case with Moore, he looked to see Frankie, Reid, and J.J talking. Whatever Reid had just said caused Frankie to smile, with J.J looking a bit confused.  
Derek chose to ignore the slight pang in his chest.  
“Alright everyone.” Hotch called out, “Here’s what we have, Detective Habib, Prentiss and I will go to the DC station to review the data and evidence gathered. I want Reid, Moore, and Rossi to head over to the Virginia scenes to talk with the family there, Kate and J.J I want you to head over to Galler’s Gun store- see if you can lean on them about any silencer’s being sold there recently.”  
“Rustin, Morgan, and Park, comb out the last two scenes again.” Habib ordered them. “Both Kemp and Forsee went to the same high school.”  
Frankie frowned, “This is the first connection any of the victims have had besides physical appearance.”  
“Hope it’s not just sick copycat.” Said Park as she looked back on the Kemp’s home.  
Habib nodded, “I doubt it, Kemp’s shooter and Forsee’s shooter shot them both while both were on their way to school. Ballistics won’t come back for the at least three days, but we are going to assume that the shooter is the same.  
“CSU will follow with you guys.” Hotch informed them, “Call us with anything you find.” He told the three as he and the rest of the group broke apart.  
Derek stood still silently as Park and Frankie stared back at him. Park’s glaze was one of interest and admiration, Frankie’s looked as if she wanted to be anywhere else.  
Derek couldn’t blame her one bit.  
He would have to work this case with his estranged daughter for however amount of time.  
Park was the first to break. “Let’s get started.”  
Frankie was the second to move, she waved her hands over to Derek, “Coming Agent Morgan?”  
“Yeah.” He followed suit.  
He wondered how long he could keep his relationship with Frankie a secret from the others. Knowing how his history went with the team, not long at all.


	2. B-Bestow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Accepting his daughter onto the team was easier in theory.  
> Not in practice.

The Dictionary of Parenthood  
B-Bestow  
Derek stood still silently as Park and Frankie stared back at him. Park’s glaze was one of interest and admiration, Frankie’s looked as if she wanted to be anywhere else.  
Derek couldn’t blame her one bit.  
He would have to work this case with his estranged daughter for however amount of time.  
Park was the first to break. “Let’s get started.”  
Frankie was the second to move, she waved her hands over to Derek, “Coming Agent Morgan?”  
“Yeah.” He followed suit.  
He wondered how long he could keep his relationship with Frankie a secret from the others. Knowing how his history went with the team, not long at all.  
He tried not to stare at Frankie for too long of a time. She hadn’t changed too much in the last five years. Her hair was longer and no longer red, but back to what Derek assumed she would look like the first time he had met her. Her black curly hair was loose and hanging past her shoulders, she no longer looked like a Cali girl, but now, seemed to fit in with the rest of the DMV residents in her black hooded pea coat that was half way unbuttoned to reveal a batman and joker shirt.  
“How does this guy manage to slip from everyone’s sight?” Park asked astounded, the houses where close together with very little trees to block anyone viewpoints.  
Frankie kept her head up, “There’s no way he could have sat on the roof of any these houses, their roofing on them are standard circa 1990 to 91, there roofing material would creak at any sort of extra weight, most of the roofs show damage already from the storm last year.”  
Derek blinked, the shock of him having to work with his daughter was the first thing on his mind, and the second was how the hell did she make it to detective already?  
“People inside the house could have been asleep or not even in their homes.” Park added on.  
Frankie frowned, pointing to the houses on the opposite side of the Kemps. “Maybe, but I don’t think so. There’s still ice buildup on these houses.”  
“And?” Park questioned.  
Frankie looked at her watch, “It’s barely noon, the temperatures haven’t even hit the highs yet. If Kemp’s shooter was on the roof any of these houses then he would have made an imprint or caused some sort of cracking on the ice.”  
Park sighed, “Kemp’s windows are closed from all angles, either he knew exactly when to shoot Kemp so he wouldn’t have to sit out here too long or he was lucky.”  
“But why Kemp? There were three other people leaving their houses at the same time Kemp was.” Morgan asked, finally finding his voice. He looked down at the notes that where in Park’s hand “May I?” he asked as Park handed him her note pad.  
“Of course.”  
Morgan flipped through the book to see that two other neighbors were about to leave, one of them a college student at a community college. “What are the chances that the unsub is from here? This exact neighborhood?”  
“Little to none,” Frankie answered him, “All of the residents have maintained a residency here for the past ten years. We’ve spoken to the neighbors on the other side of the block, the most recent family to move in moved here three years ago from Michigan. And so far they don’t meet the description of the assumed unsub.”  
Morgan looked between the two of them, Hotch hadn’t informed him about an assumption of their unsub’s behavior just yet.  
“Assumed unsub?” he repeated, “Isn’t that my job to figure out who this guy this? That’s why we were called, correct?” He asked with slight humor.  
Park laughed, rolling her eyes as she put her hands up in a mock surrender move, “Don’t question me, Frankie here is the one who can’t break the habit of analyzing criminal behavior” she smirked. She turned to the girl in question. “You’re assumption of an older white beta male still in play?”  
Frankie groaned, giving her head a little shake, “With this? I don’t know. My best guess would be an envious beta who recognized a beta who could be risk to his ranking or an alpha who he wanted to prove he could top.” She rubbed her face, “I’m still going with an older beta male, possibly late thirties or early forties.”  
Park grinned like a proud mom, Derek on the other hand felt out of place. “And what about the location of the shooter?”  
Park looked up and pointed to the trees on the far right of them, “Only trees that would be high enough to shoot someone from a distance, plus pretty hard to see from the angle that Kemp was at.”  
Frankie stretched out her arms, one arm pointing to where Kemp was shot the other at where Park assumed the unsub shot Kemp. “Possible angle, it’s slightly off but…ME has yet to say it was the correct MO.”  
Derek flipped through the earlier set of pages to find a description of the shooter M.O. “Damn.” He huffed more to himself than to the women, “He takes a piece of their skin?”  
Park flinched, “That was with the first two shootings.” Park answered with a scowl of disgust, her shoulders shivered as she recalled how now the shooter somehow found a way into the victim’s rooms and stole a personal belonging.  
“We still don’t know how he manages to sneak into their rooms without alerting any officers.”  
Before Derek could ask his next set of questions his phone went off, he smiled as he saw Reid’s name flash on his screen, “Give me a sec.” he asked the two before answering. “Hey pretty boy, you okay?”  
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” Reid answered somewhat excitably. “I just wanted to know what it’s like working with the great Doctor Franklin Rustin.”  
Derek resisted the urge to look at this phone, “Wait, doctor?” he turned around quickly to see Frankie and Park with their head close together, giggling for some odd reason.  
“Yeah,” Reid replied, “Franklin Rustin is renowned for her alpha/beta/omega criminal profiling and behavior theories. Her papers on the social construct of dominant personalities in the police force and criminal justice system affecting and eschewing the idea of a postmodern racist society nearly brought the house down at Stanford. Really Morgan, you’re absolutely lucky to get the chance to work with her!”  
Morgan could feel the start of a migraine starting to form, he pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. It was way too much information about Frankie to comprehend. “So she’s what a-?”  
“A genius.” Reid answered excitedly, Morgan could already imagine Reid waving his hand frantically around to prove how big of a deal this was. “I mean, I think I have like ten points on her when it comes to I.Q points, but she’s like the “it girl” in forensic psychology now.”  
Morgan brow farrowed at all this, “But isn’t she pretty young? I mean she’s like what? Twenty five?”  
“Twenty-six, actually.” Reid corrected.  
“Twenty actually, turning twenty-one in December.” Derek remembered her saying that five years ago.  
“Her birthday is in December.” He repeated to himself out loud, forgetting that Reid could hear him.  
“Yeah,” Reid sounded perky and surprised by Derek’s knowledge, “How did you know?”  
Derek was quick to come up with a lie, “I heard Frankie bring it up with Park a moment ago.”  
“Oh,” Reid sounded like he believed him, “If you could, could you ask why she’s been turning down lectures at Columbia and M.I.T? Every time I find out she’s doing a speech and RSVP she turns around and cancels, frankly I’m beginning to think it’s me.”  
“I seriously doubt it kid.” Derek huffed, most likely Frankie knew that Reid and he were co-workers and didn’t want to risk the chance of having to bump into Derek or risk the chance that Reid could figure out their relationship.  
“Yeah, maybe. But you at least find out why she’s turned down working with us?”  
Derek felt like someone had punched him in the gut, “She was offered a job at the FBI?”  
“Agent Morgan!” Frankie yelled, he turned to see Frankie looking impatient and slightly unnerved. He cursed to himself as he realized she most likely overheard his conversation with Reid.  
“Any day now.” Frankie called out with hands on her hips, “We’re losing time.”  
Derek nearly snapped at her but withheld his composure, “Yeah Reid I-”  
Reid sounded like he was shaking his head, “Yeah, I heard, go. And keep track of how she gets evidence.” Reid stated. Before Derek could hang up he heard Reid call him again, “And see if you can jot down how she conducts her interviews, I hear her methods are unorthodox but affective.”  
“Will do, kid.”  
“Morgan!”  
“What?”  
“Don’t forget to ask her why she didn’t take the job offer, I mean she should be working with us, don’t you think?”  
Morgan hummed his answered back, “Sure pretty boy, I’ll ask.”  
Reid sounded somewhat satisfied, “Okay, good,” there was a slight pause, “Yeah I better go. Rossi is giving me that look again.”  
“Then you better hang up fast.” Derek smiled into his phone as he heard the call disconnect. He turned around to see a smiling Park and an annoyed Frankie.  
“Can we go now?” Frankie asked, showing more petulance than Reid when he was her age.  
“Yeah, sure.” He answered following the two, “So Doctor Rustin, huh?” he asked conversationally, “Why go by detective?”  
He heard Park groan as she turned around to face him while still walking, “The ever humble Frankie, always likes to play down her genius.” She playfully flicked Frankie in the neck.  
“Maggie, quit it.” Frankie warned softly, not turning to face Derek.  
“Seriously chica, I will never understand you. Corinne is always bragging about you, so is Rice. At least take that position at BAU so that your career is on the same level as that brain of yours.” Park chided gently, it sounded like an argument the two had often.  
Even though Derek promised Reid he would look into why Frankie never joined the team, it was a moot point to ask why since he knew he was the answer. He wanted to know who Corinne was. Derek remembered Camilla telling him that she only had an older brother and her mother’s name was Madeline. She never remembered a Corinne in the family tree. As far as he was concerned there was no head officer at any of the DMV precincts whose name was Corinne.  
“Who’s Corinne?”  
Park beat Frankie to the punch, “Her girlfriend.”  
Derek couldn’t help but raise his brows at the answer, Frankie still hadn’t turned to face him or ever turned her head to look at him. But he could see that she had turned stiff.  
“Girlfriend?”  
They were finally at the spot, “Yes,” Frankie’s voice was as dark as her eyes in the shaded area. She lifted her head up in defiance, “Got a problem with that?”  
Derek shook his head no quickly, “Of course not. Why would I?” he asked her back, daring her to slip in front of partner.  
Frankie smirked, realizing the bait for what it was, she turned on her heel. “Good.” She combed her fingers through her hair as she looked up at the tree and then backed down at the ground.  
Derek couldn’t help but smile as Frankie started to bounce on her toes.  
“The ground is still frozen.” Said Frankie as she looked at the ground.  
Park hummed in agreement and stared up at the lowest branch, “Based on the height, he impact would have left a mark on the ground.”  
“That’s if he jumped,” Derek reminded them, “He could have scaled down.” The ground was even and untouched, except for the prints they had just made. “You still think it’s a male in his thirties or forties?” He asked Frankie.  
He received a wordless nod, “Then he’s in good shape, definitely a background in military if he’s using a Remington.” He rubbed his head in frustration, “CSU probably won’t get any good prints of the tree. Let’s hope this SOB scrapped a piece of clothing somewhere.” He called out to the CSU techs who were lagging around the houses close by. He ordered the techs to collect any fibers or gun residue on the tree if possible. Derek shrugged and then decided to tell the CSU team to search for foot prints south of the houses where the path led to small set of trees and more homes. “Good chance that the sniper didn’t just right back into the neighborhood he shot at.” Derek noted as the lead tech nodded in agreement and ordered the team to start taking pictures of the scene.  
“Crap.” He heard Frankie hiss.  
“What?” He looked over at the two, Park leaned her head close to Frankie to listen in. She had a pinched look on her face.  
“You sure it’s him?” Frankie asked to whomever was on the other line. Frankie huffed as she rubbed her head in frustration, her eyes glanced over at Derek for a moment. “Yeah, I’ll tell him.”  
Derek ignored that nagging little voice in his head that made a point to note that he and Frankie rubbed their forehead when they became frustrated with something.  
“Tell me what?” Derek asked.  
Frankie flinched, her head twerking to the side. “There was another shooting, an hour ago.” She looked to take in Park and Derek’s reactions.  
“What?” Derek shook his head, “The unsub usually takes two days to find his next victim.” He looked at the scene. “So is this a copycat or what?”  
“Where was the shooting?” Park asked.  
Frankie bit her lower lip, “Annandale.”  
Park’s arms dropped to her side, “What?” she pressed her lip together, trying her best to hold herself together, “Who?”  
“White female vic, in her sixties or seventies.” Frankie looked at Derek this time, “What are the chances that she was a victim of a copycat?”  
Derek shrugged, “What are the chances that Kemp’s shooter was a copycat?”  
“Kemp’s shooter was the DMV sniper.” Rice’s voice broke through their conversation.  
“How do you know? Ballistics haven’t come through yet.” Derek told her.  
Rice looked slight disheveled, her right eye looked puffy.  
Derek became alert of her appearance, as did Frankie. “Chief?”  
“Kemp’s watch is missing.” Rice told them, “One of the officers went up to Kemp’s room to retrieve something when he spotted a man in a CSU jacket rifling through Kemp’s belonging. When he approached the man attacked.”  
The three, along with the CSU crew who had stopped when Rice came to the scene stared in shock. “How the hell did he manage that?”  
Rice looked frighten almost, “I don’t know, he had a CSU jacket. He could have easily sneaked without question.”  
“Is the officer alright?” Park asked.  
Rice nodded, covering her mouth with her hands for a bit, “Yeah,” she nodded again, “yeah, he’ll be fine. But he didn’t see much of the guy.”  
“Well how much did he see?” Derek asked.  
Rice closed her eyes, “Not much at all. He was able to confirm it was a white male. That’s it. He was knocked out for a while it looks like.”  
Frankie let her head become lacked, “So...there’s a start.” she slipped her phone into her pocket. “You hear that-?”  
“Yeah.” Rice answered her, she looked at Park. “Chief is waiting for you to head over there first.” She pointed a finger at Frankie, “You let me know what you pull up.”  
Frankie nodded and followed a stunned looking Park to their car.  
Derek nodded back at the CSU crew, “We’re assuming that the sniper used this tree to get his shot. We’re sure it’s a man with military experience, none of the ground is broken or uneven and there’s a good chance that he’s comfortable with this area, or at least with this neighborhood specifically. I told CSU to search the grounds behind us to see if there are any tracks.” He rested his hand on Rice’s shoulder. “We’ll find him Chief.” He promised the older woman.  
Rice looked resolute. “We better.” She inhaled and exhaled, “Hotch is planning to give an interview in three hours. You better meet up with your group in Virginia.” Rice told him. “I’ll let you know if CSU finds anything.” She promised as she turned around to go back to her injured cop.  
Derek found Park and Frankie leaning against Park’s car, with Park humming to a song that sounded slightly familiar to Derek.  
He saw Frankie’s line of vision shift to Park. “Maggie.” Frankie laughed, she seemed to recognize the song, “Stop.”  
“What?” Park asked innocently, she avoided staring at Derek with a smile that was not at all innocent. “It’s a pretty good song, don’t you think Frankie?” Park stressed ‘pretty’ too much for his liking, Derek decided to let it go once Frankie got Park to stop laughing.  
“You started it.” Park accused Frankie as they pulled into the highway.  
Derek could see the trust between Park and Frankie, the comradery was obvious between the two. They clearly trusted each other and were comfortable.  
“I was trying to cheer you up.” Frankie replied.  
“How long have you two known each other?” Derek asked, reminding the two that he was sitting behind them. He directed the question more at Park than Frankie, knowing he would get a direct answer.  
Park smiled at him through the rear view mirror, “Three years.” Park turned to smile at Frankie before setting her eyes back on road. “DCPD and FCPD had a case that they matched together, I got the honor of working with Frankie here. Bonded over hating the Redskins and having to deal with the pricks at Ann Arundel County.” Park smiled at Derek’s reflection. “She’s a great partner to have, better friend even.”  
Frankie had her head casted down, “Better not let Ramzi hear you say that, otherwise he’s gonna want to switch partners.” She said gently.  
Park rolled her eyes, “You’re smart, chica, stop putting yourself down. Okay?”  
Frankie didn’t say anything which led to Derek wanting to know why Park seemed so adamant about giving Frankie a moral boost.  
Frankie, according to both Reid and Park, was a genius. So why did it seem like she was so quiet about it?  
Derek decided to file that question for later.  
Once they had made it onto the new crime scene Derek took a look at the surrounding. The sniper decided to shoot an old woman at a strip mall that was now full of people behind police tape. He could see a couple of reporters begging the chief and other Fairfax county cops to answer their questions. He reconvened with Rossi, Moore, and Reid. “Is it just me or this dude getting ballsy by the second, his wait time was two days, now six hours?” he asked the group once Frankie and Park met with them.  
“It is really a surprise though?” Rossi asked, “No witnesses and no viable prints. With every shooting so far he’s becoming neater about tying up loose ends. He’s becoming smug about this.” He concluded, he peaked over at the news stations waiting for one of them to answer their questions. “God help us if any of the security cameras caught a white van driving by, that’s all we need.” Rossi frowned as he looked at the cameras mounted on the roof of the strip mall.  
“He couldn’t be getting that smug that he would shoot someone at a crowded mall where cameras are places at every possible angle.” Reid concluded.  
“He would if he knew the area.” Frankie told him, she pointed at where the victim was shot. “The vic was shot in the neck, just like everyone else,” she reminded them with disdain. “Depending on how and where the vic was facing, sniper was most likely on the roof. And if I’m correct the stores over there,” she pointed to the small set of independent stores across the street from the strip mall “Don’t have cameras pointing this way, and if they did the height and level would be off by several feet and eight inches.”  
“Seven inches.” Reid corrected her with a slight smile.  
Frankie didn’t look taken aback by the correction, “Eight,” she repeated again with assurance, “You’re forgetting the mount of the cameras and taking in the lens space.”  
“Shoot.” Reid looked slightly put off but impressed.  
Rossi looked between them with a grin. “All hail the queen.” He bowed down to Frankie before taking her hand. “David Rossi. You must be the Doctor Rustin that our Reid here won’t stop going on about.”  
Derek and Frankie both rolled their eyes at the same time without either of them knowing. “Yes, but please, it’s just Detective Rustin or Frankie if you wish.”  
“Frankie then.” Rossie turned to Derek’s, whose attitude was clearly on display. “Any guesses on who our probable unsub might be?”  
“Well according to Frankie here, we might be looking at a thirty to forty year old white male, the race was confirmed when an officer was attacked by a man disguised as a CSU tech.” Derek told them.  
Moore let out a low whistle, “No wonder he’s becoming ballsy. Snuck onto a hot crime scene without getting caught? We just upped the ante for him.”  
Derek agreed before continuing, “Looks like we might be facing an ex-soldier. He highly trained and fit. With a -” he turned to Frankie, “Beta personality, you said?” his tone was condescending.  
“Yes.” Frankie said smoothly, not daring to pay attention to the way Derek was speaking to her, “We might be looking for someone who has a power imbalance, he’s a beta who wants to be an alpha and to do so is taking out probable alphas and betas who are a risk to him.”  
Reid start to wriggle, “Fascinating, how do you think his power imbalance could have affected his military status? I mean, he couldn’t have been a beta when he entered, most like he was an omega who…” Reid started to break off when he realize that Rossi and Derek were staring at him.  
“If it is our guy, chances are we need to look into locals in the area who have been dishonorably discharged from the military. Easiest start.”  
Derek pursed his lips for a moment, “Nice hunch Frankie, but our victims don’t add up. We have three victims in their sixties and seventies and three other victims who are a lot younger than your assumed unsub.”  
Rossi, Moore, and Park stepped back at the power play that was beginning to unfold in front of them. Reid on the other hand just looked unsure at Derek’s defensive stance.  
Frankie crossed her arms, her head tipped back to look at Derek straight on. “Kemp was mostly likely an alpha who reached the status at a very young age compared to the unsub who has not reached that stage. Forsee was also an alpha and Conner was an omega who came from a wealthy and privileged background much like the two oldest vics so far. So I can deduced that the unsub takes pleasure from taking out those who are a risk to his status. He’s reaching middle age and has notice he hasn’t achieved any notoriety or ranking, so he levels the playing field in the way he sees fit.” She stepped closer to Derek till they were face to face with each other. “You want to add on something, be my guest, just don’t excuse my work as if doesn’t matter or if it’s a joke. Do I make myself clear, Agent Morgan?”  
Derek cocked his head, irritation apparent on his face, “Perfectly clear, Detective Rustin.”  
“It’s like alpha versus alpha.” Park commented from the sideline. Moore and Reid shook their heads silently in agreement.  
Rossi found it weird but also entertaining that Derek had met his match. He would have assumed that Frankie would have clashed with Reid, but her personality was just as rough and assertive as Derek’s. The perfect mix for an explosion to occur later he realized as he broke the two apart. “Come to think about it, there is someone who matches your description. In some ways.” Rossi stepped between them.  
Frankie was way ahead of him, “Allen is dead and Malvo has been in lone cell since they got arrested.”  
“Doesn’t mean talk doesn’t make its way through the prison system.” Moore reminded her. “Why don’t you and Park head over to-“  
“Ooh,” Reid covered his mouth with his hands as he noticed what he just did.  
Rossi almost laughed, “Yes, Reid.”  
Reid cleared his hands away from his mouth and adjusted his sweater and coat. He cleared his throat, “Would it be okay if I joined Doctor Rustin for the interview?” he looked at Frankie who bristled at the prefix being used.  
Rossi shrugged, “Two geniuses are better than one.” He turned to Frankie, “Would that be okay with you?” he asked Frankie who just turned to Park for an answer.  
“Go.” Park smiled, passing her keys to Frankie. “I need to meet with the chief anyway.”  
“Sure.” Frankie agreed earning a “Woo!” from Reid.  
Frankie only smirked as Reid ran ahead of her to Park’s car, waving goodbye at Rossi and Morgan.  
Once they were gone Rossi pulled Derek aside, “What was that about?”  
“What?” Derek asked as the two made their way to where CSU was collecting evidence.  
“You and Frankie, that was one hell of a power struggle game that you two were going at.”  
Derek rolled his head in disappointment in his friend, “Oh c’mon Rossi, you too?”  
Rossi looked surprised at his friend’s defensive tone. “You seemed to be really annoyed by her. Why?”  
Derek laid back against one of the cops’ car and crossed his arms, “I’m not, just not believing in any of this alpha/beta crap Frankie is spewing.”  
Rossi didn’t look like he believed him one bit, “It’s a theory that we’ve used at BAU before. It was Frankie’s creation and you’ve never questioned it before until now.” Rossi looked back at where Frankie was standing moments before. “Is it Frankie’s theories that you have a problem with or with Frankie herself?”  
Derek clapped his hands together, smiling, “Neither Rossi, okay?” he pushed off the car and walked around to speak to the techs but Rossi grabbed him again.  
“Not okay, Morgan.” He pulled Derek closer so it was only Derek who could hear him, “Hotch and Rice are seriously considering transferring Frankie to our team after this, so you better figure out a way to accept her.”  
Derek moved his arm out of Rossi’s grasp at the news, ‘You can’t be serious.” He sighed.  
“I wouldn’t joke at a time like this.”  
“She can’t join the team, Rossi.” Derek stately wearily.  
Rossi shrugged, “Well that’s not up to you Morgan.” He patted the younger man on the back, “So like I said, you better figure out a way to accept her.”  
Derek craned his head back with his hands blocking his vision of the sky. Accepting his daughter onto the team was easier in theory.  
Not in practice.


	3. C-Clone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek and Frankie have a few things in common much to Derek's horror.

The Dictionary of Parenthood  
C-Clone   
Derek craned his head back with his hands blocking his vision of the sky. Accepting his daughter onto the team was easier in theory.   
Not in practice.  
He opened his phone and called Garcia who answered immediately, “Talk to me dreamy.”   
Derek was thankful for the small smile he got for that, “Hey baby girl, can you do me a favor?”  
Garcia let out soft purr, “Hmm, for you gorgeous, any time. Name it.”  
“Track a Franklin Rustin’s phone.”  
Garcia chuckled, “Wait- as in Doctor Franklin Rustin?” she asked in a voice that made Derek feel like she was ready to gossip.   
“Yeah.”  
“Good grief, Reid has been going on about her. Why do you need me to track her phone?”   
Derek sighed, looking to make sure that there was no one of hearing shot from him, he still stepped away further from the group of cops that were already a good distance from him. “I just need to know where she’s headed, especially if she’s got Reid with her.”  
He couldn’t hear Garcia typing anymore, which meant he was in for a round of questions from her.  
“Why? She’s with the cops, has worked for every major police department in the US and overseas and has worked with FBI before from what Reid has told me. You don’t trust her or something?”  
Derek halted, thinking his answer for a second.   
Did he trust her?  
She didn’t do anything to prove that he couldn’t trust her.   
But he would rather be safe than sorry.  
“No, not really. I just want to make sure she and Reid don’t get themselves into trouble.”  
Garcia laughed at that, “Oh man, two wise beyond their years’ geniuses in one car.” Derek could hear her typing again. “I would pay so much money to see those two talk privately for hours.”  
\----------------  
Spencer had so many questions racing through his mind as he sat passenger side with Frankie. He hardly ever met someone with whom he felt could match him in academia. Maybe he could finally ask her why she declined joining the BAU so many times, or why she cancelled so many university seminars as soon as he signed up for them (it had to be him, there was no way that his signing up and her cancelling were mere coincidences), and maybe he could finally find out what her IQ was.   
“So how do you want to handle Malvo?” Spencer asked, jotting down some of his questions onto his notebook.  
“We’re not visiting Malvo.”  
Spencer blinked, “Why? I thought-“  
“Malvo has been on lock down since he was sentenced. The one thing I can tell you about the prison system in the DMV is that they can hold a grudge if you hurt the community as a whole. They aren’t going to let him speak. Plus our unsub is nothing like Malvo. Those two targeted people because they could, our unsub has a mission.”   
“To prove his dominance. He’s asserting his stance as an alpha.” Spencer explained using Frankie’s theory.   
Frankie shook her head, “Yes and no. His targets are very specific when you line them up. All white except for Kemp. Two in there fifties: a man and a woman, a young teen woman, and a young boy. Plus three elderly people.” She looked at Spencer, “Noticing something here?”  
Spencer frowned when he finally noticed the bigger picture. “He’s creating his own family.”   
Frankie nodded, “Bingo.”  
Spencer couldn’t help but feel jilted at not noticing that sooner. “That’s why all the victims had similar physical traits. He wanted a family that resembled him, that’s why he kept part of their skin at first and then a personal item. He wanted a connection. Something tactile. But why Kemp?”  
Frankie’s expression turned glum, “That’s what I want to know.” She gave a dazzling but eerily familiar smile. “How good are you with a gun?”  
Spencer was not ready for that question, “Uh?”  
Frankie sighed, tapping her handing on the steering wheel as she made another turn off the highway. “You stay close to me then and no talking unless I give the go ahead.”   
The urge to call Hotch or Derek was beginning to rise, “Where are we going?”  
“I rather not say.” Frankie murmured as they entered a neighborhood that looked beaten. There were a couple of guys standing out front of one house that was boarded and some kids playing jump rope nearby.   
They pulled up to a small yellow painted house where two men were working on a two cars. One guy looked to be taller than the second guy, wearing a dark puffy jacket with a knit cap, the other guy had on a Redskins jersey and mechanic gloves.   
“Frankie.” The guy with the jersey greeted them with a smirk. He looked Spencer up and down with some disdain. “Who’s the guero?” The guy sneered. Spencer took a step back behind Frankie when he noticed that the other guy was glaring at him. He couldn’t help but notice that there were two other guys who were sitting on the porch.   
“Relajate, he’s with me Johnny.” Frankie smiled easily. “I need a favor to ask of you.”   
Johnny looked back at the three men and laughed, “You got a lot of balls to ask me for a favor after what I did for you.”   
Frankie nodded, “Yeah, I know. And I paid you back for it. Besides its nothing dirty-”  
Spencer reeled back a bit at that, “Wait, what did he do-?”  
Johnny picked up a wrench that was resting on the edge of the car, “I thought you said he was cool?” he voice gruff as he stepped closer to Frankie and Spencer.  
Frankie put her hand up, shielding Spencer away from him. “Woah! When I say he’s with me, I mean he’s with me! You don’t pull crap like that with me! Que dirian Gio?”   
Johnny looked at two of them, studying them almost before gruffly replying back. “Te dije que estoy limpio.”  
“Yo se.”   
Spencer waited as Johnny slowly set the wrench down and wiped his face. “What do you want?”  
Frankie pulled out her cell phone and pulled up a picture of the Remington weapon that the unsub was using. “These guns after 2013 where only issued to military members. Anyone from DD13 traded anything like these before or after 2013?”   
Johnny looked at the picture bewildered, “This what that jackass using to shoot people with in DMV?”   
“Yes, we believe he has military training but doesn’t take well to authority. He might have received training but could have discharged for disorderly or insubordination.” Spencer explained.   
Johnny was quick to retort, “Was I asking you?” his brown eyes turning icy.   
Spencer put his hands up immediately as he noticed Johnny stepping closer to him. Frankie pushed him back, whispering “What did I tell you?”  
Johnny smiled wickedly at Spencer, he passed the phone back to Frankie. “You think I’m about to snitch on Jesus?”   
Frankie shrugged, “You rather I crash his quarters? Maybe sit around here with some of my cop buddies to make sure that nothing is going around this part of DC?”  
Johnny smiled, arms crossed confidently over his chest, “I know you wouldn’t be pulling this crap on me, nice try.”  
“True, because I trust you. Like you should trust me.”   
Johnny’s smile faltered as he looked around.   
“I still have your back J. When did I ever let you fall?” Frankie asked, Spencer noticed that Johnny’s demeanor shifted from smug to unsure. Clearly the two had history that was based on trust.   
“You know King’s Life Rulez?” Jonny finally asked after a few minutes of silence.   
Frankie’s face shifted to pure disgust, “I heard of him, that jackass who goes to Japan and China and harasses women? He’s been the bane of every American embassy in East Asia. What’s his deal?”  
Johnny shrugged, “Jesus was telling me a few days ago some guero came at him wanting to buy a Remington. Said the guy really liked it.”   
Spencer couldn’t help but ask, “When did he buy it?”  
“Maybe like five months ago? Paid in cash, over twenty five hundred for the thing and Jesus’s silence.”  
“Why did Jesus tell you then?” Frankie asked curious.   
“You know how Jesus doesn’t like surprises, he got one of his guys to tag the phone lines, had me make sure the money was legit, no cops.” He added the no cops part a little too rigid for Spencer’s taste.   
“Where you able to get a name?”   
“No, just know that the dude is a big fan of King’s life, had on the t-shirt when I tracked him down.”   
Spencer pulled out his cell phone, “Are you willing to give a description to a-“  
Frankie pulled his arm back from dialing any numbers, “No cops, this interview goes off the books.”   
Spencer looked at her incredulously. “Why?” he turned to Johnny, “We have a description of the man, we could give it to the media to report on.”   
Frankie looked pissed, “And how do you want to explain to Hotch and Habib on how we got the description? You want to explain that we talked to active DD13 members?”  
Spencer peered back at Johnny and the men, “Uh?”  
Johnny smiled as he pulled down the collar of his sweatshirt to reveal the DD13 insignia and lettering. “I’m clean though, so no worries.” He told Spencer in a condescending tone. The three guys laughed, making Spencer’s stomach churn.   
Frankie laughed as well, “He is though.” She patted Spencer’s back. “What did the guy look like?”   
“Er, white dude, not that tall, maybe five ten or something? Pretty well built, brown cropped hair. You know, military style, and green eyes.”  
“Any tattoos or anything like that?”  
Johnny shook his head ‘no’, “None from what I could see. Dude did have something on his forearm though, like a burn mark or something.” He lifted his forearm to mimic what the mark looked like.   
“Anything else?”   
“That’s it.”   
Just then a young sounding voice broke out, Spencer looked up to see a boy about five or six years old open the screen door. He smiled and waved frantically at Frankie, “BATMAN!”   
Frankie laughed, opening her arms out wide for the little boy to run to her when Johnny pointed at the boy, “Anthony, volver dentro.” He warned the boy.  
Anthony pouted, his tiny fist at his sides, “But daddy!”  
“Ahora!”   
Spencer winced as the boy looked like he was about to cry. Frankie gave him a small smile, “Anthony, promise we’ll go get some hot chocolate after my case is done, okay?”   
Anthony jumped up and down excitedly before running into the house. She looked back at Jonny, “Thanks, you and Gia better come over after this. Corinne is getting pissed.” She smiled as she went in for a hug.   
Spencer stood silently back, wondering how someone with Frankie’s criteria could associate themselves with gang members. From what it looked like Frankie’s unorthodox traits went further then he, or anyone who knew of Frankie, believed.  
Johnny walked them to their car, he held onto the door frame before Frankie had a chance to close it, he leaned down till he was equal to their faces. “One more thing, Jesús dijo que este chico era psico por no hablar de un racista , ten cuidado ahí fuera , De acuerdo ?”  
Frankie became stiff at the warning, “Si, gracias de nuevo. I’ll talk to you later.” She let him shut the door and started to drive off. “C’mon Spency.”  
Spencer frowned, especially at that nickname. “What?”  
He saw Frankie smile, her eyes shift over to him for second before returning to the road. “No questions about me talking to gang members, especially DD13 members?”  
Spencer adjusted a bit in his seat, “Not really, one thing I was warned about was that you have a tendency of solving cases in unusual ways.” He paused remembering one case that had him needing to know if she really was a loose cannon. “Did you really make a suspect think he was paralyze in order to get answers from him?”  
Frankie laughed, somewhat hollow like, “I would tell you, but then CIA would be on my ass.”   
Spencer became flustered, “Wait, I thought that was myth? Is that why you went off the grid for a year?”  
“No, that was something else. And anyway that doesn’t mean a thing now. You heard what Jonny said to me when we left?”  
Spencer nodded, “Somewhat, apparently Jesus thinks his buyer was crazy? If he was showing tendencies deemed psychotic or sociopathic then that could fit our unsub. Our guy is highly deranged, thinks he deserves the perfect life, most likely came from a broken home, parents are divorced and had serious material problems. He was most likely their punching bag with no other way of finding solace at school or through a creative outlet. He was an omega who was most likely treated like crap by other alpha personalities.”   
Frankie nodded along, “Which makes sense of why his time line is the way it is. The guy probably took a lot of crap thinking he deserved it, that’s why the shootings are so sudden and close. He’s retaliating for the first time. He finally realized he could be an alpha.”  
Spencer leaned against the car side, “He was in the military, and he had to have a clash with authority figures.”   
“He had to have been triggered by something though to have had enough of people walking on him. He mostly likely overlooked, it was the final straw. He was overlooked for someone that he deemed weaker. He’s narcissistic, a perfectionist, classist, racist, and delusional. He thinks he’s entitled because of his life.”   
Spencer nodded, “Considering the shooting are becoming more frequent and his methods of retrieving the items of the victims are becoming more brazen, I would also say he’s becoming more confident, which means that we’re dealing with a guy who probably got into trouble a lot as a youth but was the scapegoat.”   
Frankie bit her lip, “We’re looking at ticking time bomb here. The dude has years of bottled up rage in him. He’s armed and delusional.”  
Spencer wavered back and forth, “Not to mention power hungry, which means that if we start perusing him he’s going to get more aggressive with his attacks.” He pulled out his phone immediately to call Hotch about the profile.   
\------------------  
“Okay handsome, you owe me for this.” Garcia teased in a happy voice as Derek smiled, he sat alone in an observation room waiting on what the state precincts had pulled up about Remington that where still on the black market.   
“What you find baby girl?”   
“Frankie and Spencer are headed back to HQ but they never went to see Malvo, they went a neighborhood borderline of DC and Virginia, and check this out, the area is a known territory of the DD13 gang. They spent like twenty minutes out there.”  
Derek could feel himself start to bristle, not only did Frankie disobey orders but she took Spencer to a gang territory without warning anyone. “Frankie have any ties to DD13?”  
Garcia let out a snort, “No, nothing from what I found. I did find out though she has been on loan to pretty much every branch of the FBI except for ours for whatever reason. Seriously Morgan if Spencer is Boy Wonder then Frankie is Wonder Woman. She’s pretty much matches our Spencer in terms of brain, but in terms of skills…you got a match toots.”  
Morgan looked at his phone in confusion, “Excuse me?”  
He could feel Garcia’s excitement through the phone, “Well she’s combat trained, two black belts in judo and kendo, and has had training with LAPD bomb squad, not to mention she’s pretty fit from what her personnel pics show. It’s like the female you only with Spencer’s brain.”  
That comment almost freaked Morgan out, almost. He knew well enough that nothing in Frankie’s report would link him to her. “Are you saying I’m not smart?”  
“Then Spencer?” Garcia retorted back.  
Morgan huffed, “Good point.” He started rubbing his neck, now was a good time as any to dig a bit deeper in Frankie’s past. “Anything in Frankie’s past we got to worry about?”  
Garcia hummed, Morgan could hear her typing fast through the phone as Garcia looked through different department files to find something. “Huh, well here’s something.”  
“What?”   
Garcia began typing fast, he heard a beeping sound which caused Garcia to yell out “Shoot!”   
“Garcia, what is it?”  
“DCPC have a restricted history report on Frankie, I can’t open it.”  
Derek looked out the window to make sure nobody was missing him, “Well can’t you override it or something. I mean FBI trumps local police.”   
He could hear Garcia growing frustrated, “But FBI has her files on lockdown too.”  
“You sure you can’t crack them?”  
Garcia started to groan, knowing her Morgan knew she was already tapping her fingers against her desk. “Why is she so important to you all of a sudden?” He could already hear the gears in Garcia’s mind start to turn. Hopefully she would be off in her assumptions.   
“Don’t tell me you have a thing for her, because one you have a girlfriend. Let me remind you. And two, she’s young enough to be your daughter Morgan.”  
Derek was thankful that Garcia couldn’t see him because he couldn’t hide his relief of Garcia assuming wrong. He also noticed he winced at Garcia noting that Frankie was young enough to be his daughter. ‘As long as it’s just her assumption and not an accusation.’ Derek reminded himself, trying to ease his muscles. “Please baby girl, for me?”   
“Nooo! I hate it when you do your pouting voice, no fair Morgan!” Garcia whined.   
“C’mon baby girl, show me some love?”   
He could practically feel Garcia blushing through the phone, “Alright!” she huffed, missing the dazzling smile Derek had on his face. “For you teddy bear.” He could hear her began to type and click a couple of times, “Alright, just about...yep got it.” He heard her gasp and then swear loudly.   
“What happened? Garcia?”  
“I can see why this stuff was on lock down.” Garcia said in awe.   
“Garcia! What did you find?”  
“Keep your tight tee on love.” He could hear something rustling in the background. “At the age of eighteen Franklin Rustin was drugged, beaten, and raped by a Captain Joey Haskel of the LAPD force.”  
Garcia’s voice rattled through Derek’s mind, leaving his blood to run cold as the news washed over him. He couldn’t help but feel something hard kick in him, the urge to protect people was always in Derek. He was willing to drop everything to protect his family and friends especially. But the news of his daughter being raped and not only not knowing about it but not being able to prevent it left Derek feeling numb and sick. “Whe-Was Haskel sentenced?” Derek forced his voice to be even. He resisted the urge to vomit, he had promised himself after Buford that he would never let his child have to suffer what he suffered. His rational side went to hell after realizing he failed to protect the one person he had promised himself years ago he would protect, regardless of the fact he never knew of Frankie’s existence until five years ago.   
“Yeah, but a decorated cop with high ranking doesn’t get sentenced he gets fired from his position with a hefty severance package. God bless our justice system. Oh!” Garcia snickered, “Looks like Haskel luck ran out. He was murdered three months after being let go from the force.” She clicked her tongue, “Huh, looks like he got the family jewels removed. Ouch.”  
Derek didn’t feel one bit sorry for the asshole. “Did they find out who did it?”  
“Uh, yeah.” He heard Garcia pause, “Promise you won’t freak out? Because there’s some other bad stuff in here as well.”  
Derek rolled his eyes, “How bad?”  
“Uh bad bad? Looks like officials tied Haskel’s murder to members of DD13 but could never tie it to one person, they never found the weapon that killed Haskel. And it also looks like Frankie was in an abusive relationship with a guy, at age twenty she was admitted to Langone Medical Center after a Jeffery Gossin stabbed her. Gotta say, girl did some major fighting back though, Jeffery’s face looks good beaten black and blue. Hopefully it stayed that way.”  
Derek could feel his stomach roll. He had met Frankie in New York and she was twenty when they met. “What month was that?”  
“August.”  
It was only two months before she would get stabbed. He had failed her twice.   
“God, these pictures are horrible. I can’t ima-“  
“Send me the pictures.” Derek ordered Garcia.   
“What? Wait Morgan, you cannot be serious. What good would that do you or her?” Garcia asked perplexed at how angry Derek was getting. She was beginning to think this was personal for Derek and feared that his hero role was going to kick in. “She does not need you to remind her of her past and I seriously doubt any of this is vital to the case.”   
“Garcia. The pictures. Please.” Derek ordered in a voice that he could no longer keep even.   
“Morgan, you’re scaring me. Tell me what’s going on.”  
“Not now babe. Just send those pictures. I need to see them, okay.”   
He was glad when he heard Garcia agree. “One order of horror coming up.” She disconnected the call and a minute later Derek’s phone beeped alerting him that Garcia had sent him the pictures.   
Derek was glad he had gone to the bathroom for solace while looking the pictures. Because it was a lot easier to escape unnoticed after breaking the stall door off the hinges after seeing the pictures of Frankie in the hospital after the rape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spencer and Morgan are a slow burn ship in this story. Just a heads up.


	4. D-Dedication

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spencer gets a glimpse of Frankie's life and sees that there is a slight resemblance in terms of how passionate she is about her job as they get ready to go undercover. The apple didn't fall too far from the tree apparently.

The Dictionary of Parenthood  
D-Dedication  
By the time Spencer and Frankie got back to the MPD headquarters the whole station was filled with reporters blocking the main entrance.   
“Woah,” Spencer frowned as he turned to watch Frankie’s reaction. “Is there a-?”  
“Way ahead of you.” Frankie reversed the car quickly and pulled out the main parking lot. The managed to drive off to the back of the police station that was closed off to all civilians. “I cannot believe I’m saying this but New York journalist weren’t as fussy as them.” She complained shutting the car door and leading the way with Spencer to the back door.   
“So what did your friend say about the mics?” Spencer asked as they walked through the busy station. Frankie had convinced him to go to a circuit party in DC that was a hotspot for King’s Life followers. At first Spencer thought it would be better for Callahan or Morgan to go, but Frankie showed him the ghost link online.  
“I’m sure they look for their ages, but they would stick out at a circuit party like this.”   
Spencer looked at the invite, the two girls on the poster didn’t look a day over 18 years old. “Okay…” he sighed, trying to relax in his seat as the fear of having to go what looked to be a rave clouded this thoughts. “What kind of circuit party though? Aren’t they usually a three day affair leading to the main party?”   
“Yeah, any day you go to a circuit party though, it’s as big and boisterous as the last day. But King’s Life is a big fan of them.”   
“How would we even known that the unsub would even be there?”   
Frankie shrugged, “It’s an anime theme, if the unsub is going for the cliché stereotype life then he will be there.”   
Spencer fiddled with his phone, “I would really appreciate some sort of percentage of the chances that we will actually find him.”   
Frankie massaged the bridge of her nose, exhaling while the two waited at the stop light. “We might be going blind here, but it’s worth a shot.” She passed him another phone. Spencer examined it cautiously.   
“Is this a burner?”   
Frankie nodded, “Press nine then hang up.”   
Spencer did what she said.  
“What did I just do?” Spencer asked handing the phone slowly to her.   
“You wanted to know your percentage, right?” Frankie asked, “You’ll get it.” 

Back at the station Spencer and Frankie could see the officers and agents looking raged. Both froze in their spot as a maintenance guy walked past them holding a bathroom stall door, mumbling under his breath. They both noticed the hinges where damaged beyond repair.   
“Case is getting to them.” Spencer shrugged, sitting down his bag on the nearest table.   
Frankie was about to answer when a loud female voice coming from the back offices called out her name. Spencer saw three people, two women and one guy. The women looked beyond cheerful, while the guy looked sheepish.   
“Frraaannnnnkkkkkiiieeee!” The woman yelled out again, she looked familiar to Spencer. She had dark bronze hair and copper skin, making her navy blue suit stand out. The other woman had dark skin and a short afro, her smile infectious, while the guy, who looked Middle-Eastern, kept his head down. “OH Frankie love!”   
Spencer’s eyebrows went up, he finally recognized the woman. “Isn’t that Director Gomez of the international trafficking unit?”   
Frankie closed her eyes, “Excuse me. I have a family reunion to attend.”   
Spencer watched Frankie shuffle off to the group slowly. Spencer couldn’t help but bite back a smile.   
“Reid.” Morgan appeared by his side. “How was the trip to see Malvo?”  
Spencer shrugged, “Didn’t get the answers we wanted to hear.” He lied, he felt his stomach twist. He hated lying to his teammates, especially to Morgan. “Kind of a waste, but at least we were able to gather enough info by differing Malvo’s personal to the unsub to gather a profile.” He saw Morgan stare intently at the Frankie and the group. “Are you okay?”  
Morgan looked tense, his shoulders slightly hunched. “Yeah, kid.”  
“You don’t look it. Everything okay?” Spencer made an attempt to touch his shoulder but dropped his hand half way. “You’ve been tense since we got called to the case.”   
“I’m fine Reid. Drop it.”   
Spencer couldn’t help but falter at Morgan’s tone. It made the guilt of lying to Morgan ease up a bit.   
“Do you know who they are?” Morgan cocked his head towards the group. “Brunette looks familiar.”  
“That’s because that’s Director of International Human Trafficking, Director June Gomez and the other woman is most likely senior field agent, Zoe Meta.” He halted his hand midair: ”And I don’t know who the guy is, but considering the styles of Lynch and Garcia, I’m going to go with a technical analyst.” He could only stare back at Morgan and the group. “Morgan?”   
“Hey Reid!” Director Gomez’s voice carried through the office. “Come over for a second.” Gomez waved him over. Spencer could see Frankie covering her face with her hands as the guy spoke to her with sheepish smile still.   
Spencer looked at the group smiling before turning over to Morgan, “Guess I’m going over to the popular table.” Spencer grinned awkwardly before leaving Morgan to watch the group intently. Spencer could feel the agitation permeate from Morgan with each step he took closer to the group. He knew something was wrong between Morgan and Frankie. Morgan usually got along with everyone except Frankie for whatever reason.   
“Doctor Spencer Reid!” Gomez greeted Spencer by pulling him by the arm as he closed the distance between him and the group. “I’ve heard so much about you. It’s nice matching a face to the stories.” Gomez smiled sweetly. “Kate has told us you’re quite the puppy, but what I never thought to believe was that you’re so young for a person who’s been with the bureau for over a decade!”   
“Thank you?”   
“Now I’ve heard you’re the smart one supposedly.”   
Spencer nodded, he was use to the title and sort of liked it. “Yes, I have an IQ of 182, but I never believed that intel-“  
Gomez cut him off with a wave of her hand. “Frankie’s IQ is 192. So there’s that.” Spencer winced as he took the chance to look at Frankie who looked beyond embarrass as Gomez’s actions. “I just wanted your opinion as to why such a highly skilled agent who’s been with the trafficking unit since the age of 19 would stop to work with the MPD. Hmm?” Gomez asked hauntingly, casting a glance at Frankie. “When will you come to your sense and drop this act?’  
Now it was starting to feel like a family reunion. “Gomez.” Meta grinned, loving the tension, “We have our bets, don’t try forcing her to make a decision just to win.”   
“Well if she’s insisting on working for MPD then doesn’t that mean she can’t use the FBI equipment to solve her cases then.” Gomez reminded Frankie pointedly.  
Frankie finally looked up and frowned at the man who quickly avoided Frankie’s glare. “What?!” Ali shouted back as Frankie closed in on him. “I couldn’t lie! Plus, you texted me right when she was talking to me!” Ali reasoned as Frankie closed her eyes again.   
Spencer pointed to Ali, “Tech analyst.”   
Ali nodded.   
“Can I ask you something? Is it required for tech analyst to wear loudly colored clothing?” Spencer asked inquisitively as he pointed at Ali’s Tommy Bahama shirt. This led to Gomez and Meta to dissolve in fits of giggles.   
Ali became defensive, “This is a style! Not that you two would know anything about that since you two are so attached to your Barney’s card.”  
Meta continued to laugh as she spoke, “Please, for the love of God, spare us the spiel of shopping at a thrift store for when there is alcohol around.”   
“Speaking of things I would like to buy, who is he?” Gomez pointed at Morgan, who was still watching them intently as JJ and Rossi chatted by him.   
Frankie immediately looked to see who Gomez was pointing at. “Please no.”  
Meta’s eyes became lit, “He looks yummy.” She smiled sidling next to Gomez. “Who is he? And why haven’t I dated him yet?”  
“Please stop.” Frankie begged again, looking queasy.   
Ali laughed this time, looking surprised at Frankie. “You know how they get around good looking guys.”  
“He’s agent Derek Morgan.” Spencer answered, slightly concerned for how Morgan was being talked about.   
“He. Is. Delicious.” Gomez smiled. “Mmm, I don’t understand why you’re so adamant about not transferring to the BAU. If I knew he was on the team I would drop everything.”   
Ali scrunched his face in disgust. “Please, the guy is old enough to her father.”   
This cause Frankie to go stark white, she held her hand close to her stomach.   
“Hey some of us like older men we could call daddy.” Meta laughed.   
“I say, Yes, daddy, I do, gimme brain like NYU.” Gomez sang as she continued to laugh with Meta.   
Frankie could only blink a couple of time before rubbing her face. “I used to like that song.”   
Spencer stood awkwardly in the middle of all this, it appeared that this type of conversation was the norm amongst the group, but he honestly felt put off by how informal the group was. He was starting to get why the sex crimes unit was known for making dark jokes and sarcastic comments.   
“Is there any reason why he keeps staring at us like we’re the criminals?” Ali asked worriedly. Frankie only shrugged as her face remained pale.   
Spencer, again felt responsible to answer for his friend, “He’s just really protective.” Answered unknowingly causing Frankie and Ali to look as if he had just told the biggest secret in the world.   
“Of you?” Gomez asked, her demeanor had changed from joking to studious.   
This caused Spencer to be thrown off. “Um, what?”   
“Well,” Gomez started sounding devious, “He doesn’t know Frankie enough to become protective of her, unless he has some sort of hero complex that I’m unaware of. Is he usually protective of you?”  
Spencer stammered as he answered, “I-well, no, I mean yes! Yes, Morgan is uh-he’s a good teammate. He always makes sure that we’re safe.” Spencer could feel himself being broken apart by Gomez. He knew what he saying wasn’t really truthful. Of all the people on the team Morgan was overly protective of him for some reason.   
“Good thing to have, don’t you think? A caring teammate one your back is better than none, right?” Gomez asked him. Her small knowing smile caused a Spencer to shiver. She knew he wasn’t telling the truth.   
Frankie finally stood up, “I think that enough of grilling my prospective teammate Gomez.” Frankie warned putting herself between Spencer and Gomez.   
“Aww, Frankie relax, I just want to know what sort of team dynamic you were going into.” She answered. “And I wanted you to let you know after this case your contract with MPD will be expired.”  
“I know.” Frankie whispered solemnly.   
“You should also know that if you don’t return back to your original post you’ll be transferred to the BAU.” Gomez informed her seriously. Spencer watched in fascination as Gomez and Meta’s personality shift from joking to maternal. They clearly cared about Frankie and missed her.   
“I’ll have my answer for you before this case ends, okay?” Frankie promised.   
Gomez patted her on the shoulder, “I know, but just a reminder, until then, not FBI toys.” She cocked her head at Ali, “So stop asking for favors.” Gomez reminded her again.   
“I just need it this once, please?” Frankie begged.   
Meta pursed her lips before pinching the bridge of her nose. “You think you’re close to finding the killer?”   
“Yes.” Frankie answered hurriedly. “He’s gonna be at a circuit party tonight.”  
“How sure are you that he’s going to be there?” Gomez asked, her brows scrunched.   
“Contact informed me.”   
Gomez and Meta both rolled their eyes at that. Gomez pointed her finger at her, “That’s another thing we need to talk about before you return. All that contact mess only flies by with me because I have faith in you and I’m willing to risk it, Agent Hotchner might not appreciate his agents getting info from people he himself will never be able to speak directly with.”   
Spencer piped up at this, “He doesn’t.” earning a scowl from Frankie.   
“This is your last time with a freebie Rustin, use it well.” Gomez warned her, moving Ali towards her. “After this, you’re cut off.” She pointed a finger at Ali. “And I mean it.”   
Ali had his hands up again, “Got it!”   
Gomez set her sights on Spencer again, pulling him closer. “You and I both know that’s not a look of concern,” she stated looking at Morgan, “that’s a look of disdain and caution. Should I be worried for Frankie?”   
Spencer became insulted, he knew there was friction between Frankie and Morgan, but he knew Morgan wasn’t capable of harming Frankie in any way. “No! Morgan is intense at times, but he would never hurt anyone for no good reason.” He didn’t want to explain why Morgan looked so menacing, honestly he wasn’t too sure yet as to why. But he had a hunch.   
His answer seemed to alleviate Gomez’s concern.   
“He better not.” Gomez stated darkly before waving goodbye to Ali and Frankie. Meta hugged the two, “We’re going to go say hi to Kate before leaving. Be good, okay?” Meta asked before leaving with Gomez to find Kate.   
Ali looked at the both of them before speaking up, “Well mommy dearests are gone.” He clapped his hands together, “Let’s get messy!”   
Frankie smirked at his antics. “Circuit party won’t get started till midnight at the latest. We have time Ali.”   
Ali rolled his head back and forth, “Well...yeah true. But getting ready for it will be half the fun. It’s an anime focus circuit party. You’re gonna dress up, right?”   
Frankie looked perplexed for a moment, “Do you think this is going to be comic con? We’re not going to dress up.”  
Spencer perked up at the idea of dressing up, he enjoyed going to conventions in the past (comic con, awesome con, and Otakon being the few that he had attended in the past year). “Actually we would better integrate into the party dressed up versus just going there dressed in civilian clothing. Maybe we could attract our unsub better that way.” Spencer advised.   
Frankie sucked in her cheeks, “Fine.”   
Spencer waved his hand between the two, “How are we going to pass this with Hotch though? We can’t tell the team how we found out?”   
Ali rolled his eyes, smirking at him, “You really need an excuse to have some fun dude?” he shrugged, “Tell ‘em that you and Frank are heading out clubbing.”   
Spencer made a face, tucking a piece of his hair back bashfully. “Yeah…they know me to well to fall for that.”  
Now it was Frankie who shrugged, looking like she was actually buying into Ali’s suggestion. “They don’t know me. I’ll tell them I’m taking you out for a small get together. They’ll buy that, won’t they?”  
“Are you serious?”  
“Yeah, I mean I’ll make it seem that I’m tricking you into going out. I’ll say that I thought we deserve to unwind as the city goes crazy. That going to a club didn’t seem like a big deal, if crap goes down then we say that we were at the wrong place at the right time. If things are calm then we’re cool. No one needs to be told that we went to a circuit party.” Frankie explained looking resolute. She sounded confident and looked decidedly calm when explaining their plan to get into the club without detection from the group.   
Spencer didn’t have a doubt in him about her. “Okay”  
Ali smiled, clapping Spencer on the back. “Oooh, you get to meet Corinne dude! She will love you!”  
“Why?”  
Ali continued to smile as though it was a wonderful secret. “You’ll see.”   
\----  
It was around nine o clock when Spencer arrived at Frankie’s. It was small town house near Embassy Row. Frankie’s place seemed to stand out the most with its Tardis colored exterior and BLM flag in front of the door. Spencer smiled to himself, this was Frankie’s home for sure.   
A dark skinned woman with teal box braids opened the door, Spencer looked her up and down for a second. She looked familiar to him, her smile was contagious as she pointed at him. “Columbia roast, three spoonful of sugar, and cream. Blue berry muffins on Tuesdays and our honey crunch toast wraps on Fridays.” She stated smoothly.  
“Oh god!” Spencer smiled, “You work at Honeys.” It was a fact. The woman in front of him worked at his most favorite coffee spot by Anacostia.   
“I own Honeys.” She smiled moving aside to let him in. “I’m Corinne Baxter.”   
Spencer gave a short wave. “Spencer. Well, Doctor Spencer Reid. But people call me Reid. Or Spencer. You can call me either.” He stammered under her glaze. The smile had turned to a smirk.   
“You’re adorable. Figured you would be bringing that man you always talk to on the phone.”   
Spencer thought back and began to remember the times Derek would call him when he was at the café. Derek liked their Ethiopian roast to the point where Spencer would buy a 1 pound bag. “Um…no.” Spencer said slowly, “Uh Derek wasn’t invited to this.”   
Corinne smiled, “Is that his name? Aww, maybe next time then.” She grabbed Spencer’s hand and led him through the house to where a pile of men’s clothing where laying on the couch.   
“What is this?” Spencer asked, picking up a bright yellow blazer.   
“Well Frankie told me you two were going to an Anime circuit party.” She waved her fingers at Spencer’s sad attempt of trying to look cool. He thought he looked great as Spike Spiegel.   
“And this looks horrible.”  
Spencer felt hurt. He looked down at his costume. “It’s Spike though!”  
“Sweetie you look like you just left a futuristic prep school academy not the Bebop.” Corinne chided, pulling out a purple blazer and holding it against Spencer. “You do pull off the prep boy look good though.” She turned his face the other way. “Not my Heath but definitely my Jared.” She mused.   
“What?” Spencer was confused as she pushed his hair back.   
“Nothing darling. Just thinking out loud.” She snapped her fingers after pulling out a pair of purple pants, she tossed it at Spencer. “You’re going to love this!” She exclaimed as she open a small carry on case that was resting on the table next to Spencer.   
Spencer was beginning to develop an ulcer when he saw her pulling out a can of green hair dye. “You’re turning me into the Joker?!” Spencer nearly shouted. He loved the character but never thought of dressing up as him. “The Joker isn’t an anime character!” Spencer reasoned.   
Corinne pursed her lips, murmuring something that sounded a lot like Portuguese. “Please, like some losers aren’t gonna go dressed up like Avatar or Legend of Korra.”   
Spencer paused at that. “Okay, that much is true.” He sighed, Frankie was nowhere to be seen and was most likely getting ready upstairs. He let his hands drop to his sides loudly as he sat on the couch to allow Corinne to dress him up as the Joker. “I should be made that you called me a goody two shoes.” He huffed.   
Corinne looked impressed. “You know Portuguese.” She smiled as she sprayed parts of Spencer’s hair green.   
Before he could respond Frankie’s laugh interrupted him. She looked amazing dressed up as Harley Quinn. Frankie’s eyes were covered in black make up and had intricate lace like designs on the side. Her entire outfit consisted of black and red pants, a ripped black and red tank top with a sheer underlay and tall boots, she hat the jesters hat on her head and what looked to be a half skull mask around her neck. “She got you to dress up as Joker, should have figured.” Frankie walked over to them, examining Corinne’s work as she applied white face paint on Spencer.   
“I feel like this was planned.” Spencer pondered looking up at Frankie with disdain.   
“It was.” Frankie confirmed, “Chica always makes up some excuse to dress me up as Harley Quinn. Nearly freaked when I told her I was just going to go out as Michiko.”  
Corinne sucked in her cheeks, looking annoyed at the thought alone of Frankie dressed as Michiko. “Again, you would have looked hot but there’s absolutely nothing to show who are dressing up as when you cosplay her!” Corinne reasoned, “Besides it’s this or you go with prep school boy here.” Corinne nudged her chin at Spencer.   
Frankie took in Spencer attempt of dressing up as Spike. “You win.” She moaned, earning her a kiss from Corinne.   
An hour later Spencer was told he could finally look at the finished product and was directed to a mirror by the kitchen. “Woah.” Spencer took in the green hair slicked back and styled, the vast amount of black make up surrounding his eyes that made them look intense, especially with the white face makeup blended in that made his naturally curious face look ominous. It matched well with Joker’s classic purple costume, he definitely looked like the Joker. “This is amazing!” Spencer nearly squealed. He hugged Corinne thanking her for the makeover and completely forgetting that they were going undercover and not to party until his phone rang. “It’s Morgan.” Spencer told the two.   
Corinne completely missed the look of contempt on Frankie’s face. Instead she pointed down the narrow hall on the side of the kitchen. “You can talk in the bathroom, it one door down.”   
Spencer nodded his thanks as he walked into the room. “Yes?”   
“Hey Reid. Things okay?” Derek asked clearly concerned. “You never came back to our room.”   
“Oh, uh…” Spencer had informed Hotch and Kate about him leaving to visit Frankie but not Morgan. Which he didn’t really think would bite him in the butt, but… “I’m at Frankies’.” He answered smoothly, it wasn’t planned but this could work in their favor.  
“Why?” Morgan nearly barked.   
Spencer had crossed off Morgan and Frankie ever dating or hooking up as the reason for why the two seemed to dislike each other. Spencer had gotten a short and very sugar coated version of Frankie’s dating life while Corinne did his makeup and hair. Spencer had known Morgan for over a decade, none of Frankie’s past residencies matched Morgan’s. It didn’t leave a lot of other explanations as to why they were acting like this around each other, but it did leave two possible explanations for their relationship. And if either were true…Spencer shivered at the idea of the team finding out.   
“Frankie invited me to a reading at a friend’s house. She thought I would like it, apparently it’s this up and coming anthropologist from Stanford who discussing how postmodern linguistic affect group dynamics and mob mentality, and how within that realm modern media and journalism is being twisted to fit with globalizations ideals. It’s actually really fascinating, you should come!” Spencer rattled on, knowing full well that Morgan would turn the invite down. If Frankie wasn’t enough of a reason, the idea of sitting at some stranger’s house as another stranger discussed the breakdown of individual identity would definitely assure Morgan never wanting to come.   
“Uh, Think I’ll take a rain check kid.” Morgan replied uneasily.   
‘Bingo.’ Spencer thought. “Are you sure? Frankie said this guy would be amazing, he sounds like it. I actually read an article he wrote for the Post where he explained-“  
“Maybe next time kid. I just want to make sure you’re okay.” Morgan explained.   
“I am, what makes you think that I’m-.” Something in Spencer’s peripheral view got his attention. He turned around to finally notice he was in a small dimly lit office. A black and white portrait of a small black girl stared at him. Her eyes looked empty and her smile tired. She was beautiful but she looked so lost. Her skin was smooth except for a small scar on her cheek and the small diamond earring in her eyes made her look regal. Spencer felt something in his stomach dropped. A feeling of déjà vu washed over him as he touched the picture gently, feeling the rough texture of the canvas juxtapose with the image of youth.   
“Reid you still there?” Morgan’s voice broke him out his thoughts.   
“Yeah.” He said slowly, looking at the picture still, “I’m still here and I’m fine.” He snapped back, “Don’t worry, okay.”  
Morgan sounded hesitant still, he gave a small groan over the phone that made the hair on Spencer’s neck stand. “I know, but I’m still going to worry about you. I just want you two to be safe.”  
‘Two…he’s worried about Frankie too.’ Spencer made a mental note of that. “I will be, I’ll call you when I‘m heading back okay?”  
“Sure.”   
Spencer disconnected the call, the picture of the girl continued to stare back at him.   
“LaRae Sterling.” Corinne’s soft voice made him jump.   
“What?”   
Corinne nudged her chin at the picture. “LaRae Sterling. She went missing from Berry Farms two years ago.”  
Spencer’s mind reeled, that’s why she looked familiar. LaRae was six when she went missing from her home. Another team was deployed on the case but Spencer was fully aware of the case due to it being a national story. LaRae’s mom was accused of selling the girl to an ex-human service worker for money and allegedly lied about LaRae’s disappearance to everyone in her life. It only came into light when LaRae’s school reported her missing after missing nearly a month of school.   
Two years later she was still missing. Believed to be either dead or sold into the sex trafficking world.   
“It was a case that Frankie was assigned to. She was so pissed when everything came to a dead end and frustrated with DC’s CSA that she nearly got dismissed when she yelled at the social worker assigned to LaRae.” Corinne stated solemnly.  
“Is that why she’s at MPD?”   
Corinne nodded, “She couldn’t leave LaRae. I get why though…Nikka is the same age as Frankie, she hates that woman more than anyone.”   
Spencer peered over at the desk and wall behind him, there was a huge board with pictures of LaRae, Nikka (LaRae’s mom), the ex-human service worker, and a bunch of other items tacked on the board. “She’s still trying to solve the case.” Spencer said softly.   
Corinne sighed, “She’s never going to leave this case alone. I don’t know what she’s going to do if she has to accept the BAU offer.”   
“Are you guys ready?” Frankie yelled from the kitchen.   
Corinne pressed a finger against her lips, “Nothing about this to Frankie, okay? She’s pretty quick to become defensive about it.”  
Spencer shook his head. Everyone on the team had a case that affected them personally, a case that could haunt them or break them. He had plenty.   
“Ali is getting set with his van by the club so we gotta head out now before the lines get mad long.” Frankie explained putting on a black and red coat.   
“Sure. Let’s head out.” Spencer agreed he waved his goodbye at Corinne, thanking her again for the makeover.   
“You two have fun.” Corinne kissed Frankie good bye before closing the door behind them.   
Once in Frankie’s car the two headed off towards the club. Spencer thought the ride would be calm and just talk about what they would do once they arrived but Frankie had other plans. “So Spencer, any reason as to why Park, Gomez, and Meta think you and Morgan are a couple?”  
Spencer felt as though someone had poured ice water over him. “Say that again?”  
“You heard me the first time Spencer.” Frankie glanced over at him with a cheeky know it all grin.   
Yes, yes he did hear her the first time. He just didn’t want to answer.   
The ten point difference in their IQs would bite him in the bite tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dedicated to MK- you taught me how to balance business and anarchy when dealing with people.  
> So I get a sort of month break from things. Hopefully I get one chapter updated soon before my so called break ends. Next chapter: tension rises as Reid and Frankie hit a snag at the club, Morgan faces his fears, and Kate, Hotch, and Frankie remind him that fatherhood shouldn’t be taken lightly.


End file.
